Ground Convoy Drives Out Quietly, The Wall Street Journal

The Iraq war has ended with the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country into the neighboring Kuwait. The U.S. involvement in Iraq has been analyzed from all sides with different perspectives, analysis, and opinions about the effects of the military involvement. Regardless of an opinion of the military's time in Iraq, the final withdrawal marks a historic event that will be remembered as the U.S. and Iraq continue to develop over time.

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

Sandy Weill’s Holiday Miracle: Buyer to Pay Full $88 M, The New York Observer

Despite several weeks of jokes that it could not be done and critics accusing the sale of being a PR move, Sandy Weill, the former CEO and Chairman of Citigroup, sold his Manhattan apartment for $88 million. This nearly doubles the record sale set last year of $48 million for a New York Apartment. The buyer isn't named, but is suspected to be a Russian billionaire. The prices paid for New York City apartments are enormous by any measure, but they would suprise no one more than Peter Minuit, a little known man who purchased the entire island of Manhattan in 1626 for $24.


You can find the article here on The New York Observer website.

Where Do Entrepreneurs Get Their Money? The Kauffman Foundation

This 3.5 minute video is an excellent, well illustrated (pun) look into how entrepreneurs actually get the money they use to start and grow their businesses. This video is an entertaining introduction for any prospective entrepreneurs (or occupy protesters still misunderstand the role banks play in supporting the growth of the economy).

You can find the video here on the Kauffman Foundation website

More than 4,000 birds crash-land in parking lot, CBS News

4,000 birds suddenly crash landed in a Walmart parking lot in Utah when, wildlife experts think, they mistook the parking lot for a large body of water. The migrating birds hit the ground at high speeds because they did not compensate for the hard pavement surface. More than 3,000 of the birds were saved. This both sad and humorous article highlights the impact our communities have on migrating birds and other wildlife. It is easy to forget we share the land with other species. Habitat degradation is the number one threat to plant and animals species.

You can find the article here on the CBS News Website

Paul Allen, Supersizing Space Flight, The Wall Street Journal

"Billionaire's Novel Vision Has Wingspan Wider Than a Football Field, Weighs 1.2 Million Pounds"

Paul Allen, the wealthy co-founder of Microsoft Corp. has decided to use $200 million of his money to develop a new airplane that can be used to launch satellites into Space. The early designs for this plane show it as a combination of two entire Boeing 747 jets with an additional rocket booster to help propel the plane into space. The idea behind the design is a fascinating plan to make space launches cheaper, simpler, and less dependent on weather conditions and optimal launch times. The enormous plane would take off normally, fly to high altitudes and then ignite the rocket booster to launch it into low orbit. Why would someone invest this much money in an uncertain project like this with a long term horizon to realizing any potential gains. Mr. Allen and his partners see their venture as a huge step to commercial space launches, the industry that has begun to develop after the U.S. and other nations decided to cut funding to space programs. The plan expects test flights to begin in as little as 5 years.

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

Note: Non-Subscribers have limited access to wsj.com

The Buck Stops Here: $1 Coins to Be Curtailed, The Wall Street Journal

"Dead presidents go the way of Sacagawea" The U.S. government has failed to excite the nation with another attempt at producing $1 coins for circulation. It will reduce production of the presidential gold dollar coins to only enough for the demand of collectors. For a marginally attached coin collector like me, I am sad to read that the U.S. mint will stop producing enough of the gold dollars to circulate. It seems that, after the unsuccessful attempts with Susan B. Anthony dollars, the Sacagawea dollars, and the Native American dollars, Americans have shown they do not want to use coins (like the European Union and the UK use) instead of the traditional $1 bills. Advocates for the coins say that $1 bills, the most used denomination, wear out much to quickly to justify their continued use. Opponents however, argue the $50 million per year cost of the program is a waste of tax payer money.

You can find the article here on the the Wall Street Journal website

*Note: Non-subscribers have limited access to wsj.com

Bernanke Joins Bargain Hunters Who Refinance, The Wall Street Journal

Due to the current downtrodden state of the economy, the recent financial crisis, and the proliferation of news media sharing, many more people today have heard the name of the Federal Reserve (Fed) chairman, Ben Bernanke. The chairman of the Fed, after he or she is appointed by the president, is viewed by some (mainly economists) as the most powerful person in the world. The Fed's actions, among other things, have direct impact on interest rates and the value of the U.S. dollar, the world's reserve currency.

This short article reveals information about Ben Bernanke and how he is handling his own home mortgage (humorous to think that he handles such regular and mundane issues because his actions at work affect the entire market across the U.S. and across the world)

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

*Note: Non-subscribers have limited access to wsj.com

Loud TV Commercials to Leave Quietly, Thanks to FCC, USA TODAY, December 13, 2011

Although it has not troubled me on a daily basis, I can remember times when the volume of the television seemed to rise significantly when the program I was watching went to a commercial break. With new authority from President Obama and Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will now require broadcasters to maintain constant volume levels to ensure "that commercials will have the same average volume as the programs they accompany." The effect will be to reduce the momentary unpleasant shock most of us have experienced when a quieter program is interrupted by a loud commercial.

The passage of the cleverly named Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM), TV watchers around the nation will be able to enjoy their media more comfortably. The real importance of this new regulation is that is shows congress can still work together to pass legislation with bipartisan support (apparently, they all share the interest of watching television). Hopefully, this is a sign of joint action to come when Congress will decide to work together to tackle some of the other important issues facing the country (economy, war, taxes, debt, etc.)

You can find the article here on the USA TODAY website

Russian election: Biggest protests since fall of USSR, BBC News, December 10, 2011

50,000 protesters gathered in Moscow, Russia today to protests against what they saw as corruption in the results of the recent parliamentary election. Russia has been dominated for years by a single political party and the iconic ruler Vladimir Putin. These mass protests come at the end of a year of protests around the world looking for political change.

You can find the article here on the BBC News website

Know What You’re Protesting, The New York Times, December 3, 2011

This article was written by Gregory Mankiw, a longtime professor of Economics at Harvard and a leading thinker in Economics education. His book, Principles of Economics is used by universities around the nation for their introductory economics courses (including my Principles of Microeconomics class last year).

His article is an opinion related to the Occupy movement and a mini OWS protest staged by students in one of his harvard economics classes. Many of his students notified him they were walking out of his class to show protests against what they called the "corruption of higher education" and the " biased nature of Economics" that contributes to the economic inequality in America.

Mankiw's thoughts can be found in the link below.

You can find the article here on the New York Times website

Modest Bonus Year on Wall St., but Stock Could Yield Fortunes, The New York Times, December 3, 2011

Any one who regularly reads, watches, or listens to mainstream news media sources knows that the outlook for the American economy is much worse than it was a year ago when 2010 finished strong and investors were looking towards another year of big gains. Even occasional news absorbers have been exposed to the countless number of articles in 2011 related to U.S. Congress budget fights, debt ceiling deadlines, Europe's debt woes, and the first ever rating agency downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. Contrary to this collection of dooming news, the economy continues to function and an overwhelming majority of the labor force have jobs and receive pay checks.

This article discusses the effects of this year's macro level economic environment on the paychecks and bonuses of bankers, a industry of workers that have been closely watched since the credit crisis in 2008. Top banking executives receive most of their bonus compensation in the form of equity through restricted stock and stock options rather than cash. This form of compensation is often praised because it attempts to align the executives' interests with the interests of the shareholders of the company (usually preserving and creating value). However, this article discusses the benefits of being payed with equity in bleak economic times. The value of bankers' bonuses can rise (or fall) with the success (or failure) of the company. Bankers have a reason therefore to be excited about depressed share prices of the company in the short run until bonuses are granted because the value of their bonus will have more room to increase. While this short term misalignment of interests contradicts a a main purpose of equity bonuses, the restrictions on the use of these equity payments likely preserves the shareholder desired long term interest alignment effect.

You can find the original article here on the New York Times website.

Defiant Assad Denies Ordering Bloody Syrian Crackdown, ABC News, December 7, 2011

2011 has been the year for protests in the Middle East and North Africa. Citizens of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Syria have taken to the streets to call for their long time leaders to step down from power. The first have of the year in which most of these protests began has been called the Arab Spring. While the protest and new changes in the regison have certainly not ended, day to day news coverage of the countries has diminished with the rise in the coverage of Europe's Debt crisis, the U.S. underperforming economy, and the upcoming presidential election. The exception for this, however, is Syria. The leader od Syria President Bashar al-Assad has not stepped down from his role amid allegations of violence and sanctions from countries around the world. This article shows the fascinating first video interview with the Syrian President by Barbara Walters.

You can find the video and article here on the ABC News website.

Michael Lewis: Advice From the 1%: Lever Up, Drop Out, Bloomberg News, December 4, 2011

The Occupy Wall Street movement that began in September took up much of the news for its roughly two months of existence. It prompted discussion by politicians, businessmen, students, and many other people around the world for its protest aimed towards Wall Street (and business) rather than the the traditional protest against government. I personally had several discussions about the movement with friends, saw the actual Occupy Wall Street protesters on my trip to New York (passing on a bike), and gave a speech on the topic in a campus wide university debate discussing whether the movement would bring positive results. For now, it seems the movement has died (or is in the process of doing so) among questions over the safety of the protesters' encampments and violence that broke out in several occupy cities. As the debate dies down, the members of the 1% have lilkely began to calm down after being vilified for their role in the American economy. Michael Lewis*, the famous author and financial journalist has written a hilarious satire article for Bloomberg from the point of view of the 1%. He incorporates recent events into his exaggerated representation of the "ONEers" and how they view their role as the rich in the world.

You can find the article here on the Bloomberg website

* Michael Lewis is a favorite author of mine for his interesting, but funny style. I recommend two of his books that I have read for anyone looking to gain an insight into the financial industry without being bored by textbook style writing (Liar's Poker and The Big Short).

Harnessing Desert Sun to Power Europe, BBC News, December 4, 2011

A German based group named Desertec with powerful financial backing announced its grand to build a network of solar power in North Africa to power the region and Europe. The plan makes sense on paper: use the significant amount of available desert land in North Africa to generate clean electricity and bring the two regions closer together in their relations. Desertec's plan is to use CSP (Concentrated Solar Power*) to generate electricity and transport the electricity through underwater cables to Europe. They will start with a smalle scale test project in Morocco and Spain that already have underwater cables connecting them. Critics are understandably skeptical at the benefit of the system with solar power currently only making up less than 1/10 of 1 % of electricity generation. Also the projected $400 billion price tag for the complete project by 2050 is steep compared to continued use of our fossil fuels. I am a proponent of research into renewable resource energy that will eventually make it competitive with nonrenewable sources. Morocco, which has the least oil reserves of any North African country and an abundance of sunshine, in my opinion, is the perfect place to start.

*CSP uses mirrors to direct sunlight heat onto water that heats the water into steam. The steam powers a steam turbine that creates electricity. This is an alternative technology to the more well known solar panels that use photovoltaic cells to directly convert sunlight into electricity.

You can find the article here on the BBC News website

Some Asians' college strategy: Don't check "Asian", USA TODAY, December 3, 2011

This article discusses the situation of many Asian American college applicants around the country who feel they should not check "Asian" for their ethnicity on their applications. Several students in the article say they were advised by their friends, their families, and even some high school guidance counselors to avoid revealing their ethnicity on the application because they say Asian students are compared against other Asian students rather than the complete pool of applicants. They say they are held to a higher standard and must have higher scores than a non Asian applicant to gain acceptance. Admissions offices (though interestingly not all admissions officers) would likely deny they practice any form of racial discrimination. Whether or not this is true, the idea that a class of people are disadvantaged in their admissions is unsettling.

You can find the article here on the USA TODAY website.

Even on the 11th Floor, There’s Parking Right Out Front, The New York Times, December 2, 2011

It is well said that "it costs a fortune" to park your car in New York City. The man in this article has actually made that true with his "sky garage" that carries his range rover up 11 floors to his $7 million 11th Avenue apartment. An interesting article about the design of this clearly unnecessary form of parking.

You find the article here on the New York Times website.

An EU Currency Breakup Would Be Unlike Any Other, The Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2011

The European Union debt crisis has been much of the focus for the last 6 months with inventors around the world watching the eurozone countries struggle to find a viable solution for their problems. Thousands of articles have been written about the crisis detailing the challenges facing Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and the economically stronger countries whose fates are attached to these ailing economies including Germany and France. Articles are written about the daily developments of the crisis and possible solutions that can save the European Union economies and the eurozone' s famous common currency. This article discusses the currency and the overarching question many have about the debt crisis, what will happen if the euro fails.

You find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

*Note: Non-subscribers have limited access to wsj.com